PHILADELPHIA, PA – Marcus McClary scored a career-high 24 points, 20 of them in the second half and Shavar Reynolds pitched in a career-best 25 as Monmouth University Men's Basketball (3-1) knocked off A10 member Saint Joseph's on the road Saturday afternoon, 87-75. It marks the first time Monmouth has ever won a true road game at an Atlantic 10 foe, and extends the Hawks current winning streak to three games.
 
A 6-2 push to open the second half gave Monmouth a seven-point edge, a lead St. Joe's got down to four several times but no closer. McClary carried the Hawks, making his first seven shots of the half including a three that got the lead back to seven. The home team again was within four at the 7:55 mark before a drop-off dunk from Nikkei Rutty and consecutive buckets from McClary and George Papas made it 70-60. MU made timely shots down the stretch and withstood a pair of late Saint Joseph's triples to knock off the home Hawks 87-75. 
 
Monmouth scored the first seven points of the game to open with the lead, but SJU used a run of their own to cut into it and eventually lead by as many as 11 in the opening half. Trailing 29-21, MU ripped off 13 in a row capped by a Reynolds three-point play to give MU the lead. Monmouth got the edge back to as many as five and ultimately took a 37-34 lead to the intermission.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"I have a group of kids that are believing in each other and when you have four super seniors, it's just different. They're grown men, you can do so many things with them. When you have older guys like that, they've been in every situation so there's no panic in them." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"This is a huge win for our team and for the program. We knew we had to come out and bring energy with the 12pm game, and we did. The coaches and my teammates have so much confidence in me to go out and have fun and take advantage of a great opportunity." – Guard Marcus McClary
 
"We're playing for each other. There's no ego, there's no selfishness, there's one goal and that's to win. We know we can be a top defensive team based on just effort and staying solid, and we want to be able to rely on our defense." – Guard Shavar Reynolds


-The win is Monmouth's first over an A10 opponent on the road ever.
-MU wins its third game under King Rice against an Atlantic 10 opponent, with the other two coming over Fordham.
-Monmouth wins its third in a row, the longest stretch in non-conference play since 2019-20.
-The win is Monmouth's first over an A10 member since December 21, 2013 against Fordham.
-Monmouth starts 3-1 for the first time since 2015-16.
-The Hawks are the second MAAC team to reach three wins.
-Marcus McClary's 24 points are eight more than his previous career high.
-Shavar Reynolds' 25 points are his career-high.
-Walker Miller's 12 rebounds is a career best, his first career double-digit rebounding game, and the most by a Hawk this season.
-Nikkei Rutty's 10 rebounds is a season high.
-Miller (12) and Rutty (10) mark the first time for two Hawks to grab double-digit rebounds since February 6, 2021 at Manhattan (Rutty and Martin).
-Miller remains the only Hawk to score in double figures in all four games.
-84 of MU's 87 points came from seniors.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth shot over 90% from the foul line for the third time this season.
-MU dominated the paint 36-14.
-The Hawks limited SJU to 36.3% and 35.1% from deep.
-Monmouth shot 48.4% and 53.3% from beyond the arc.
-The Hawks topped Saint Joseph's in rebounding 43-34.
-MU led for 27:54 of the 40 minutes.
-Monmouth led for the final 22:45 of the game.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth hosts Princeton on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.